Waking the Beast
++ Kaon ++ One of the largest energon mining centers on Cybertron, Kaon is part of a stretch of rough, difficult terrain known collectively as the Badlands. Bordered by the seemingly endless orange desert of the Sea of Rust to the east and south, this large, flat plain is almost sealed in by the rising red-purple peaks of the Manganese Mountains to the north and west. Kaon provides the central hub of activity and civilization in this area, while smaller polities such as Blaster City and Tesarus have arisen at its edges. Dark gray and black metal, tough and resillient against wear, form the main colors of the city, its buildings in the shapes of domes, pyramids and jagged peaks. All of them are aerodynamically shaped so that their edges face the Sea of Rust, allowing the buildings to withstand the edges of any storms that blow in from the oxidized desert beyond. The area is noisy and dirty from the constant drumming of machinery: mining equipment, enormous energon transport haulers and low-flying ore shuttles fill the air with noise and lightly shake the ground as they pass. Heavy laborers, almost always low-caste, toil away here either at the surface, or below the ground, enjoying few comforts and fewer respites from their work. The slums of Wreckage Row are home to Kaon's work force, while the edge of the massive highway leading to nearby Kalis is guarded by the looming mushroom-shaped fortress of Kolkular. Somewhere near the edges of the ruins of Blaster City, an underground arena known as the 'Pits of Kaon' hosts illegal gladiator combat. Contents: Blast Off, Space Shuttle Starscream The Forge Exits: NE Row N Kalis NW Kolkular E of the Rust Sea S City W Tesarus It's dark out, and the mining sect near the outskirts of Kaon, is dank and quiet, save for the periodic echo of excess liquid dripping from the ceiling down to the floor. The work cycle had ended several cycles earlier. By now, most of the miners who were employed in this particular sect have retired to a drink or their work cycle bunkers. But not this mech, tall with bright green optics that pierced the darkness. Exodus has a funny habit of sticking around the mines after hours, just checking everything over to make sure no miners had fallen injured and were lying undiscovered in a dark ditch somewhere. He ambles slowly around the cavern he mines in, meticulously scanning the area carefully, picking up any stray tools left behind by other forgetful miners. As he's meandering through the mines, he notices a blocked off mineshaft in the far back of the mining sect, one that's he's never noticed before. Curious, he approaches it, peering down the lightless tunnel into abysmal blackness. There doesn't seem to be any reason for it's blockage, so out of sheer curiosity, the miner removes the barricade (with some effort) and enters the tunnel... The tunnel is an old one, long forgotten and succumbing to the effects of improper maintenance. Support struts, rusted over time from built up moisture, groan ominously and release small sloughs of loose grit once in a while above the mech that descends further into the depths. A reason why this tunnel might have been closed off in the first place presents itself soon to Exodus, coming in the form of a cave-in that cuts off the rest of the shaft. Struts in the area appear to have been replaced multiple times along crumbling walls, likely to deal with multiple cave-ins before the area was deemed unsuitable and abandoned. And that's it. The end of Exodus' journey. Only.. if the mech listens carefully in the otherwordly silence it's very possible he'll be able to hear the faintest thrum beyond the loose wall of rubble. Like the pulsing of a spark... Should curiosity find the mech and spur him on he'll soon find himself at a dead end lit only by a few nodes of unmined energon crystals. The raw material glows eerily in the darkness, illuminating hastily abandoned tools and another, smaller collapse of one of the wall faces. This is where the pulsing originates, but it seems whatever is making that noise is still just a bit deeper in the wall. Exodus examines all of this carefully, the lights on his body glowing vibrantly so as to provide some illumination for in the dark, unlit tunnel. He glances briefly up at the ceiling, then down at the nodes of unmined energon crystals, tilting his head to one side curiously. He frowns, feeling the pulsing in the walls. Stepping forwards, he starts to dislodge some of the rocks that bar the passage, but he soon discovers this tunnel is more than meets the eye. He has not yet even moved a third rock when suddenly, the ceiling of the cavern starts to collapse and a large cavity stretches open directly in front of him Thankfully, the debris from the ceiling above him falls into the yawning pit that has now suddenly opened in front of him, and he remains unscathed. After the cave in, he peers down into the pit. It is fatally deep and down at the bottom, there's pool of raw, heated, energon. Yet, in the middle of the pool is a mound--that appears to be the source of the pulsing he'd felt earlier... He frowns. If he attempts to climb down and falls, he'll be slag before he can even call out for help. He takes a moment to decide, but eventually, curiosity and the prospect of a person being buried under that mound gets the better of him and he descends. The heat is close to being unbearable the further Exodus descends, the raw energon producing a thick bubble now and then from rising gases beneath. The cavern, while not enormous, is still of impressive size and appears as if it's been untouched for millions of years. But signs of previous inhabitants are clear, the floor surrounding the pool littered with the ancient, rusted out corpses of Cybertronian-like beings. Metal arrows pierce many of them while others are mangled beyond recognition and crushed post-mordem beneath fallen stalactites over the years. A few limbs are also visible under the rubble of a collapsed entrance. But the most prominant figure is the mound in the center of the pool, the strong hum of a hibernating spark calling out from beneath the rubble that covers it. Thankfully the ceiling Exodus collapsed allows him a temporary bridge to the small island across the energon. What's underneath the debris would be a surprise, though.. A femme lies beneath, battered from combat and sporting some open wounds that have long since congealed. Optics are dark nothings on her expressionless face, but she's alive and in some sort of dormant state, likely to conserve energon throughout the years. How anyone could get down here is a mystery, but by the bizarre, bestial anatomy of her it's clear she isn't just any ordinary someone. The descent down is treacherous. Though the pit walls are littered with cracks and crevices, they're hardly a comfortable reaching distance apart. If Exodus was any shorter, he would have long lost his grip and fallen to his demise below into the raw, boiling energon. When he reaches the bottom, he carefully picks his way across the bridge of debris, carefully hopping from one bit of rubble to another, since most of the broken rock is floating freely in the energon. The miner stares a bit sadly at all the corpses, but focuses his attention on the mound. He makes short work of the debris covering the female, and once he sees her, his expression grows concerned. He examines her wounds, and producing a patch kit from his subspace, does his best to cover the open wounds. Then, carefully but tenderly, he kneels and gently props her helm on up his knee, shaking her a little bit, in an attempt to rouse her. After laying ages in critical condition, the sealing of her open wounds helps lessen her system's internal threat level, allowing the flow of energon back through her now that it won't simply leak out. This also steadily brings her back from dormant state, fingers twitching with aching creaks from years of misuse and optics regain a faint, jade glow. Weakly her vocals crackle, but after a few attempts she finally questions wearily in an obscure language. Unaware of what's happening, it takes a second for her to blink and finally register that there's a person holding her. It's then that optics flash back to their full vibrance and her body tenses, lips curling to flash predatorial teeth as she yells something unintelligable at him and struggles with surprising strength to get free. Still weak, the femme stumbles clumsily to the edge of the island and whips about to face him, tail flicking in agitation and hair of blades rising in threat. On full alert now, she barks something else at him, something that sounds demanding and accusatory, before looking around in frustrated confusion. Why were these corpses nothing but husks? She just killed them... Exodus smiles warmly at her when she wakes. "Rise and shine, sleeping beauty~" he says kindly. But then she's dragged herself away from him, stumbling to the edge of the small rock island they're on. He doesn't try to restrain her. Instead, he just gives her a sad, weary look. He wants to communicate with her, but apparently, she doesn't speak modern Cybertronian, and he hasn't a clue what she's saying. But if she were to look into his optics, she'll notice there's something innately genuine about him. Something sincerely caring and compassionate. He extends a hand towards her, his expression pleading. Above them, the treacherous pit wall looms, and it may suddenly occur to her that he has risked his life to come down here... Good intentions or not, the femme is confused and threatening hostility like a cornered animal. Jade optics narrow to slits and she yells at him again in question, pausing, and gaining a furious look at his inability to understand. Now she shouts something that sounds like a command, to speak perhaps, to explain who he is and what's going on. Not mobile enough to threaten him with her ability and not having her bow on her at the moment, the monsterous femme can only snarl and shift in her spot when hand is held out. It's a gesture she doesn't expect and neither is his expression, something that actually gives her pause. Optics flick briefly to the shaft above them leading to the cavern, then back to him, and her mind begins to tick. Already her tension begins to ease and she appears somewhat less hostile, instead looking cautious and rather curious. Another sentence leaves her, this one calmer and questioning as upper body leans in his direction slightly. Can she trust him long enough to get out of here, maybe? Exodus watches her grievously, saddened rather than afraid by her hostile nature. He can't communicate with her so he simply continues to watch her, his expression compassionate. He continues to hold his hand steadily in front of her, waiting for her to respond instead of reaching forwards. He looks into her optics and smiles warmly at her again, hoping to gain her friendship and trust, though he can't communicate with her verbally.. Friendship and trust are long way off, unfortunately. For now Exodus gets the luxury of not getting his face ripped off. She watches him for a few more moments before tentatively inching forwards, remaining on guard the entire time until she's right in front of him. If he's still kneeling she'll squat before him, head tilting to eye his hand while tail swishes in a curious manner. Might as well.. Far from some simple wildfemme, she takes his hand and shakes it firmly before starting to rattle off a few things, hands gesturing for emphasis. Motioning to her prominant audials, then her mouth, and finally to him, she more or less paints a picture of asking if he can understand her at all, though it's doubtful. Maybe he's just stupid..? Only she would think so, honestly. Pondering a moment, she eventually glances back and one of her ears shifts up to show a port housing beneath which she says something about while pointing to it, wanting some informative input. Exodus squeezes her hand gently, smiling in empathetically at the wild female. He shakes his helm slowly, indicating that he doesn't understand her at all. When she comes to squat by him, he watches her carefully. She seems to be familiar with interfacing, and that seems to be a good idea since neither of them can understand each other. He nods, his green optics lighting up a little. Finally, a little clarity! He opens his own port chamber on his shoulder and pulls out a cable, reaching to connect it to the port just below her ear, looking at her and gauging her expression, not 100 percent certain that's what she wants. Chimera gives a single nod at his look, her own apearing a little impatient. Once the cable is plugged in she opens the channels to let the feed flow, optics dimming in the process and heavily restricting any opposing flow back to him. But at least he'll learn a few things. Her name is Chimera, she's old as heck, and the word 'Mortilus' keeps floating about. As for her, Chim gets the whole nine yards, whatever history he knows as well as language pouring into her brain and filling the spaces left blank from being underground for so long. It's actually kind of overwhelming, making the femme appear dazed once the feed finishes and she disconnects. "Ngh.." Finally understandable words begin to leave her mouth as she sits back, frowning hard and rubbing her head while staring hard at the ground. "Can't have been that long.. Is all that true?" She looks to him now, squinting. "Where is Mortilus? I must speak to him at once." Exodus meticulously walks her through all of Cybertron's history for as far back as he knows, carefully informing her in the most non-biased fashion possible. He also gives her the abridged version of how to speak modern Cybertronian. Chimera will also get a small glimpse into his past as a miner. Despite an unfortunate incident that left him blind for a good long involving his brother, the miner is a hardworking, compassionate, and genuine person who extends kindness to everyone. His conscious takes special note of her name, past, and this unknown persona called Mortilus. Once it appears she's learned everything she needs to know for the time being, Exodus gently disconnects the cable and tucks it away. He places a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry.. but I don't know who Mortilus is. How are you feeling?" Question of her health goes in one audial and out the other, Chimera too busy staring at Exodus with the intensity of a thousand suns. "You /what/?" Rage burns fiercly within the femme as she stands upright and tears herself away from his touch. "How do you not know of Lord Mortilus?? Death-bringer of the Guiding Hand! Shepherd of sparks gone dark! Challenger of the stars themselves!" Outrageous! How could he not know! This is not leaving Chimera with the best impression of Exodus and neither does his caring nature. It almost makes her tank turn, really. The reality of all of this infuriates her, but she at least has the mind to think about it, fists clenching as she mutters angrily, "It can't be.. After so long people have forgotten him? Primus, what happened... No, no this must be some sort of trick.. I fought for him.. the battle.." Hands to head now, Chimera tries desperately to process the new information, of the years of Cybertronian rule under these 'Primes'. "Damnit.. I need to find someone who knows!" Too much to think about right now, Chimera shoves all thought aside and springs past Exodus, skipping over the stone pathway with impressive agility and starting to sift through the corpses. Eventually she finds her unstrung bow and collapses it to fit neatly on her back, yanking out a few old arrows from the dead as well and subspacing them. Once geared up she looks to Exodus across the way, grimacing somewhat at him. "...Thank you for the help.. Exodus. I'm in your debt for that, but.. But I need to get out of here and search for answers." Exodus just gives her a sad look, flinching a little when she tears herself away from him. His optics widen when she mentions who she is really referring to. "I thought.. surely you weren't talking about /that/ Mortilus," he says. Wow, she is really old. "It's been a... very long time," he says, "and there is controversy about what exactly happened to him, or if he even existed," Exodus says, reaching out again in an attempt to calm her. As she heads for the pit's wall, Exodus follows her. "Wait!" he cries, "Yes, we need to get out of here. But please. Let me help you. Cybertron isn't what you knew it to be. It's dangerous, and if you're not careful, you might end up with brainwashed, or worse, in spark extraction or as a test subject for some twisted scientist." He sighs. "I know you probably don't want my help and don't think you need it. But if anything happened to you because I failed to warn you or keep you out of it.. well, I couldn't live with that." "Of course he existed." Chimera snaps at him with a snarl, though settles some when he speaks further, staring level at him into those concerned optics. "I fought against the gods themselves. I think I can handle some simple mortals." As for his worry about her, the femme rolls sharp optics and scoffs. "A wasted effort to worry so much about a stranger. You helped me out and brought me up to speed, for that I thank you. But this is where we part ways, got it?" Primus, it's like telling a dog to stay. "It'd be in your best interest if you just stayed out of my way. These mechs got in my way.. so just think on that." Sweeping hand gestures to the bodies. "I'm going to get answers and I don't need some bleeding spark mech hanging on for the ride. So thanks, but no thanks." Rude and blunt in nature, it seems. Turning now, Chimera ascends the rough hewn wall, grabbing hand and footholds where she can to swiftly scale it. Exodus is .. undaunted. He seems a little sad that she's rejecting his help, but doesn't let it get to him. He smiles sadly and shrugs. "Alright," he says sweetly, "suit yourself." He shrugs, and doesn't seem at all phased that she'd murdered all the corpses lying on the ground around her. "...and?" he says, with a little smile. He starts climbing the wall after her, carefully making his way up. "Good luck asking around. I'm afraid answers are the last thing people these days want to give." At the top Chimera can't help but give him the ghost of a smirk as Exodus on her side. "I'm sure it will turn up something. Thank you again for saving my life. If we meet on the battlefield I'll be sure to only wound you a little." The femme snickers and flicks tail at him before swiftly making her way down the old tunnel and stealing away into the night.